After becoming interested in sporting origins of padel players, we are going to dive into the heart of a new subject: the gender issue in padel. This notion is very well known in the world of sport and we see it in particular with the numerous debates on gender equality...
A strong male representation
From the start of the investigation, the first interviews conducted with padel club managers and the FFT figures left no doubt about male representation in padel in France and in the Orléans region.
First of all at the local level, the Orléans clubs have approached the gender issue differently within their sports policy. We recense 65% men among the people with a customer account at 4PADEL in Orléans and the management of the center tells us that in fact men are the most represented in general and above all are the most regular customers, including a group of around twenty men who would come to play almost every day. At Let Padel, Quentin and Victor De La Selle have an even clearer vision with an estimate based on 90% men among their customers. The phenomenon of recurrence of certain customers is also highlighted.
The questionnaire administered to 202 padel players reports an average of the estimates of the data collected in the two clubs. Among the 202 responses to the questionnaire, we find 163 men 39 women which represents a percentage of 80% men.

It is difficult for the FFT to identify the male/female distribution of padel players because a practitioner is not necessarily licensed and does not necessarily have a customer account that allows them to be counted as a practitioner. This is also why the number of padel practitioners of 500 in 000 is only a rough estimation.
To give a gender distribution, the members of the federation will then base themselves on the competitive licensees, with the support of the monthly federal ranking which is public data. We looked at these files for the month of February 2024. We then count 52 men et 8 040 women, for a total of 60 competitors in France. Among the latter, we therefore find 86,8% men compared to 13,2% women.
We therefore observe a strong majority of men among padel players, whether in the survey field or at the national level where more than 80% of players are men. We also note that The further we get into a competitive practice, the more this gap widens.
The development of women's padel
The latest findings then raise the question of the role of padel players in promoting the practice among women, a public that is underrepresented according to the figures. If we will quickly return to this presence of women within the padel clubs of the Orleans agglomeration, we focus here on the way in which the clubs and the federal authorities put in place actions to attract this public.
We noticed on the figures provided by 4PADEL Orléans and Let Padel that the distribution was still different in the two clubs. The Let Padel estimated at 10% the share of women among its customers while 4PADEL announces 35% of women.
We observe a totally different conception between the two clubs with 4PADEL which is mainly investing in the competitors, where the Let Padel is more in the perspective of leisure practiceIt should also be noted that there are few women in padel with fairly telling figures, which could explain an unequal female presence depending on the clubs in a territory.
In fact, there can be groups of women who can be friends in real life or, in the case of the 4PADEL group, who know each other through playing tennis. The latter then naturally group together in the same club to play together.. It can be assumed that the low number of women does not allow for an identical share in each padel club.
We then asked Nicolas Le about the social profile of the women present within the 4PADEL Orléans-Fleury. He then noticed a relatively young average age in her group of competitors including students and an age ranging from Approximately 19 to 30 years oldNicolas adds that older women are almost all oriented towards recreational practice and play padel to stay physically fit.
At the professional level, the women of the club are some students, others tennis teachers, and we also find two physiotherapists and an osteopath. This speech allows us to put forward the hypothesis of a women's padel, mainly young in competition, and which is moving towards recreational padel with age.
Jérôme Arnoux directs a survey of listeners of Padel Magazine and the 197 responses testify to a female craze forplayful aspect of padel,club atmosphere, friendliness. In addition, the survey conducted on padel players in Limoges found that women are more sensitive to elements such as the conditions of practice, comfort and the fact ofbe supervised by a coach.
In this same study, Jérôme Arnoux asks the 197 women in his survey what would hinder their investment in padel. The latter then agree on several criteria that would constrain their practice of padel, namely opportunities, prices too high, too few padel courses on offer, a strong difference in level between women, or a very masculine mentality of sport.
We therefore see here that depending on the territory and even depending on each club in the same territory, the expectations of women can be completely different and it is a question of the clubs adopting an adapted policy.
The role of the FFT in the promotion of women's padel
The FFT's commitment to the development of women's padel has been active since the launch of the " padel mission » in 2021 with Arnaud Di Pasquale to his direction. Marianne Vandaele, one of the best padel players in France, is also appointed head of women's padel at the FFT. After a few months of reflection with her team, she sets up actions in each region of France, including padel discovery days dedicated to women.
She also returns to her mission and the actions implemented duringan interview for Padel Magazine in 2023. , stating: “ We started in January 2022. We took stock of the situation and implemented actions for the development of women's padel, but the target was really initiation, that is to say, introducing the practice to women who have never played it because there are not enough female players at the moment. So here, in PACA, we are still well off, but it is true that if we go elsewhere, this may be less the case.
We propose these actions in the clubs that are interested and that are motivated to have many more female players. At the beginning of last year, we were the ones who proposed and it worked so well that it is the clubs that are now calling me. It is really encouraging because it means that the clubs want to invest in women's padel. The objective that we have set for this year, but which will be a little more in the long term, would be to reach 30% of female licensees, like in tennis, because there we are at a little less, around 15-16% ».
In this speech, Marianne Vandaele then gives a goal in terms of figures. We can now say, with the figures in our possession, that the goal has not been achieved. Recently, Marianne Vandaele has embarked on an international career and will then carry out her mission of developing women's padel in parallel. She expresses the need for increase the number of practitioners through initiation and therefore a leisure practice.
We thus see that the FFT focuses on a leisure practice for women, but does not neglect the competitive part with the creation of a high-level manager position that Benjamin Tison (French number 1) has occupied the position since the start of the 2024 school year. The latter has already announced that it wishes to provide the necessary means for the training of young male and female talents with the creation of a national training center.
Thus, the question of gender in padel is topical. If the success of padel among men seems to be unanimous, the challenge that can be identified here for clubs is to participate in the development of the female practice of padel by responding to the different motivations specific to this public. The FFT is also leading a policy of increasing the number of female padel players in France.

In a series of articles, Paul Dornberger shares his research dedicated to the development of padel. This confirmed player in France carried out a study work supported in April 2024 as part of his Master in Sports Management at the UFR STAPS in Nantes.